Why Do Cops touch the back of the Cars?

We have notice and watch cops touch the back of the cars in real life and in the movies. We accepted it as a norm, but many of us never question why they do it that way? Well, this might be interesting to know for some people, but for the others they just simply don’t care. Regardless of your stand, it’s still good to know the reason, why cops touch the back of the cars.

There are two reasons why cops do it this way and both reasons makes so much sense. First, cops do this to check if the trunk is closed, for obvious reason; no police will do a checkpoint with an open trunk bugging them. Moreover, they also do this for security. There are instances that a person jumps out from the trunk then start shooting the police. Therefore, tapping the back of the car is an extra safety pre-caution.

Secondly, the cops do touch the back of the cars because they want to have their finger prints on it. Although, they are taking note of the plate number and car type of the cars they are checking, it is still better to have a personal identity on the car just incase something dangerous happens between the cops and the civilians. There are probably other reasons beside these two, but this is the most logical and factual of them all.

To sum it up, police do this for safety purposes not just because it’s their habit or it’s a trend. If you will observe the cops, they have more careful way dealing with circumstances and things. This is because they are cops; therefore, they need to be two steps ahead of the villains to protect the innocent people.

having worked at Pearson International Airport, Toronto, we (TSA) always tap the trunk to ensure safety on both counts as mentioned previously. This is so that the safety of the officer(s) at a checkpoint don’t run the risk of being (a) peace officers being ambushed, and (b) innocent bystanders being in the line of fire. Again, it is all about safety. As for the finger prints – this also is done as a physical marker by the peace officer at the check point; although some crooks are intelligent and can have their vehicle later cleaned – highly unlikely however it can and does happen with the more intelligent one’s.